A variety of parts may be formed of composite materials. For example, a variety of parts may be formed by composite plies that are laid up, such as upon a forming tool. Each composite ply may be formed of a plurality of fibers disposed within a resin matrix such that the properties of the resulting composite part may be tailored. By way of a more specific example, the fuselage of an aircraft may be formed of a plurality of plies of composite material that are laid up to form one or more barrel sections.
During the manufacture of a composite part, the plies are inspected to identify anomalies. A variety of anomalies may be identified including dropped tows, untacked tows, tow gaps, twists, overlaps and the presence of foreign object debris (FOD). In this regard, each ply may be inspected following its placement to identify anomalies that may be addressed prior to applying another ply thereover. In a number of instances, the inspection of the composite plies is performed manually with an inspector providing an indication of any anomaly that is detected, such as by circling the anomaly on the ply itself. Thereafter, the anomalies that have been identified may be studied and at least some of the anomalies may be addressed, such as by being repaired, depending upon the manufacturing specifications for the composite part that is being fabricated.
The manual inspection of each ply following its placement may be a time consuming process which may slow the overall manufacturing process for the composite part. In this regard, following the placement of a ply, an inspector must visually inspect the surface of the ply and, in an instance in which an anomaly is identified, the location of the anomaly is marked upon the ply. If it is determined that the anomaly is to be addressed, the anomaly may be repaired followed by a further manual inspection of the repaired ply prior to placing the next ply thereover.
For automated lamination systems, such as automated fiber placement or tape placement systems, vision systems have been utilized in order to inspect the plies. While automated lamination systems including vision systems may identify an anomaly, such systems have not generally been able to identify the location of the anomaly relative to the composite part that being manufactured or relative to other anomalies detected on the same or another ply. As such, although automated lamination systems including vision systems are useful in identifying anomalies during the manufacture of a composite part, challenges remain in regards to determining the manner in which each anomaly should be addressed. For example, the requirements for a composite part that dictate the manner in which various anomalies are to be addressed may vary depending upon the location of the anomaly with respect to the composite part and/or the relationship of the anomaly to other anomalies on the same or other plies of the composite part.